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Why distrust if a food is “homemade”, “Mediterranean” or “traditional”
Food labels
The striking messages that some companies in the food industry incorporate together with the name of the product confuse the consumer
Let’s say that one day you walk down the aisle of any supermarket in any neighborhood. You are looking for a jam, some cookies or a jar of fried tomato. You look at the row of products, with their multiple colors and attractive containers, you are about to read the label of one of the cans but it turns out that there is another container next to it that attracts your attention. In large, colorful letters, include the message “No added sugars”. Love at first sight. Some words or phrases on food products are something of a magnet. They sound good, connect with the consumer, make them feel more «healthy» and they even encourage you to buy. However, as explained by Juan Revenga, consultant nutritionist for the ElCoCo app and author of “Make me slim, lie to me” or “With my hands on the table”, these types of messages that the manufacturer incorporates together with the name of the product as a call or claim are those that generate the most confusion in the consumer.
Thus, the expert explains that the messages that include a “with” (with vitamins, with fiber …), or a “without” (no fat, no added sugar …) or even those that try to convey a healthier image with “eco”, “bio” production stamps or free ratings that are outside of any regulation, as is the case of “home”, “traditional” o “Mediterranean” they convey to the consumer a positive image that does not have to be real. «Confusion is generated, many times, when in a product with a bad nutritional profile (based on reading its list of ingredients and information table) claims are added« positive »about a single characteristic (« with iron “,” With fiber “or” without added sugars “, etc.) offering a false image of healthiness”, he clarifies. It also so happens that these messages that usually appear on the front labeling are not mandatory, according to Revenga, so they are more marketing and free declarations than data on the actual composition of the product.
What is mandatory is to include the Nutrition Facts and product ingredients. Information, by the way, that is usually on a label on the back and that, in principle, generate less confusion because they are regulated and subject to European regulations (RE 1169/2011 on information released to the consumer). The problem, as Revenga explains, is that sometimes we don’t know how to interpret them.
When should we avoid buying a product
A reason to discard a product from the shopping list (although there could be an exception, according to Revenga) would be, according to the nutritionist, that it includes ingredients that cannot be found in the kitchen of a normal user, that is, that include extracts, additives, flavorings, and so on.
In addition, on this point the nutritionist warns about a “very ugly” strategy that he has observed in the case of some brands and that consists of adding certain components in the ingredient lists to replace the usual additives for avoid putting the chemical name of the additive. An example is the use of “beet extract” instead of adding “E-162” or betanin or “spinach extract” to avoid including the expression sodium or potassium nitrates to a food (E-251 and E -252 respectively) unjustly demonized, since this vegetable, among others, is an important natural source of these substances. According to the expert, these statements seem to be better in the list of ingredients than if its chemical name is reflected. “In addition, as the use of these extracts is not limited, they can (and are usually) far exceeded the maximum amount that each additive would be allowed,” adds Revenga.
When choosing a product from the supermarket, Juan Revenga reveals which aspects of the nutritional information we should review to decide which of them is healthier in the following cases:
How do I know which is the best yogurt?
Regardless of the nutritional information, Juan Revenga advises focusing on the ingredients. «According to the technical-sanitary regulations, a yogurt is made up of milk and lactic ferments and therefore, everything that comes out of these ingredients is suspected of being far from the ideal (colorants, aromas, thickeners, cream, sugars, proteins, whey, etc. ) », He clarifies.
How do I know which is the best fried tomato
“The closer the ingredient list is to what a homemade tomato would actually have, the better,” he clarifies. Thus, tomato, onion, oil, green pepper and a pinch of sugar (which is used in home recipes to counteract acidity) are the ingredients that we would use to make this homemade sauce and therefore, it is what we should find on the label. .
How do I know which is the best jam
“The expression ‘fruit jam’ is a redundancy since, with extravagant exceptions, all jam is fruit. At the same time ‘healthy jam’ is an oxymoron (as much as ‘burning ice’) ”, says Revenga. Thus, the nutritionist proposes that instead of using the “healthy” label with food, it is better to use it with our use of food. A relative use of the variables “frequency” and “quantity”. “Thus, a healthy eating pattern will be characterized, in relation to the use of jam, by including this food in a small quantity and not in a usual way, whatever the label we consider,” he clarifies.
What is the difference between “fiber source” and “high fiber”?
The regulations specify it clearly. According to the European regulation RE 1924/2006 referring to the claims of healthy properties of food, “only a food can be declared to be fiber source, as well as any other declaration that may have the same meaning for the consumer, if the product contains at least 3 g of fiber per 100 g of food or, at least, 1,5 g of fiber per 100 kcal “. In addition, it points out that it can only be declared that a food has a high fiber content, as well as any other declaration that may have the same meaning for the consumer, if the product contains at least 6 g of fiber per 100 g or 3 g of fiber per 100 kcal.
To check if a food is within these parameters we only have to check its nutritional information on the label. “Let’s remember, it is usually in the back, and not in flashy claims to the front,” warns Revenga.